2020 Wisconsin Supreme Court election
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County results Karofsky: 50–60% 60–70% 80–90% Kelly: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||
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| Elections in Wisconsin |
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The 2020 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on April 7, 2020, to elect a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a ten-year term. Dane County circuit judge Jill Karofsky defeated incumbent justice Daniel Kelly, shifting the ideology of the court toward liberals.
As more than two candidates filed to run, a nonpartisan primary was held on February 18, 2020. In the primary, university professor Edward A. Fallone was eliminated.
The general election took place during the initial surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and state Republicans' controversially opposed postponing the spring elections (a move largely seen as having designs of benefitting Kelly through depressed turnout). Karofsky's sizable win was only the second instance since the 1960s in which an incumbent justice of the court was defeated. While the election was formally nonpartisan, its general election result was viewed as a win for the Democratic Party, while Kelly was a conservative backed by the Republican Party (and who had been endorsed by incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican).